In a very large toy shop there lived a large community of all sorts of toys. They all dreamed of only one thing: to be bought and played with by children. The toys were terribly sad in the shop. They were incredibly delighted by every shop visitor. Of course, a toy must never show people that it was alive and could move and talk. But amongst themselves the toys would chat, and they did this most often when the shop was already closing.
On one of the shelves in the shop lived a princess, a knight and a dragon. And one day they began to argue about who was the best.
What's there to argue about, of course you won't find a better doll than me here.
The princess declared boastfully.
You're mistaken. I'm much better than you. Look at my shiny armour. No one else has anything like it.
The knight interrupted the princess impatiently.
Oh no, that's not true. I'm the best toy in this shop. Look how many different buttons I have. I can sing and talk.
Said the dragon bluntly.
Well, how are we to understand who's the best of us?
Asked the princess.
It's simple. Whoever gets bought first will be the best toy.
The dragon suddenly suggested.
And the toys began to wait for someone to buy them. But a week passed, then another, and no one bought them. Then the toys decided to be clever and improve their appearance. The princess found lots of ribbons in the shop and put them all on herself. She started to look like a Christmas tree.
All the shop visitors openly laughed at the princess doll. By dressing herself in so many ribbons, she had become a laughing stock to everyone around her.
The knight saw that many boys were buying transformer cars and decided to pretend he was a transformer. He clumsily and inappropriately tried to look like some sort of vehicle, but in that state he looked more like a pile of rubbish than a car. Shop visitors couldn't work out what this metal contraption was in front of them.
And the dragon noticed that children liked talking dolls, so he kept pressing buttons and talking. But people didn't like all this noise and many shop visitors complained about him.
All the toys on the other shelves were happily bought, but not the princess, the dragon and the knight. They so wanted to be bought that instead they overdid it with their efforts and turned themselves into horrible creations that no one liked.
But they couldn't have imagined that it was precisely their "modernisation" that was the problem. It seemed to them that they hadn't decorated themselves well enough, so they continued frantically to disfigure themselves.
One day a family with three children came into the toy shop: two boys and a little girl. When they approached the shelf where our arguers lived, they were horrified.
What on earth are these monstrosities?
Asked one of the boys.
That's strange, there used to be a beautiful princess, a dragon and a prince on this shelf. But what this horror is, I have no idea.
Replied the shop assistant and hurried to remove the toys from the shelf.
Then the princess began to quietly remove the ribbons from herself.
Wait, wait, I want this toy.
Said the girl when she saw the toy without all the ribbons in the shop assistant's hands.
The dragon stopped making constant noise. And the knight stood to attention again.
And we'll take the dragon and the wonderful knight.
The boys began to shout over each other.
The shop assistant looked at the toys he was about to throw away and didn't recognise them. Before him again were the princess, the dragon and the knight that he himself had once put on one shelf.
He took the toys to the till and sold them to the customers. The children brought the toys home and began to play with them constantly. When evening came, the children each took their toy to bed with them to sleep with.
As soon as the children fell asleep, the toys gathered in the middle of the room.
How foolish we were.
Said the princess.
You're right. We shouldn't have disfigured ourselves. We should have just waited for someone to come to the shop who would like us.
Added the knight.
So the toys understood that you should never pretend to be something you're not. You should always be yourself and then everything will be fine – for the children and for the toys!
